Non-muslims lived side by side with muslims in Mecca and Madina for long and they are not disallowed by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) or any Sahaba for that but they were baaned after long time when few incidences were held that required strict security for those places. One was whem some one tried to destroy Prophet's grave.. therefore from Islamic point of view non-muslims are allowed in those cities but politically they are not.. In mosques they are welcomed as discussed above..
The restrictions applied to Makkah and Medina are based on security and cultural reasons.. there is no such thing in Islam banning non-Muslims from entering a place of prayer be it Makkah, Medina or a mosque in Katmandu .. Saudi-Arabia is a very closed society and daily life is governed by illiterate Mutwa force which see non-Muslims as a threat to sacredness on Haramain .. as far as Islam goes it actually does encourage others (non-muslims) to visit for the purpose of enlightenment … for a Muslim the meaning of a mosque extends beyond just a place of prayer it’s a place of meeting, doing business exchanging ideas and so on .. the security implemented today in Makakh and Medinah dates back to the incident when a non-Muslim clan invaded medianh and tried to dig up prophet’s grave before they got caught ..
Hey one more thing
These things are hard to explain
For some it seems strange... to swallow
The frontier of our minds
Is the last place we find
But maybe the first place we should go
Degas and Rooster Blues are 100 % correct.
In fact, before the incident of breach of security, non-muslims did go to Mecca and Medina.
From what I've heard, I could be wrong, there were two men that were staying in an area near the Prophet's grave. They were there as tourists or observors I believe, whatever the reason. Through their quarters they dug a tunnel that was to lead toward the Prophet's grave, and then I dont know what their plans were when they would get to it. But they did come far enough that the white cloth covering the Prophet's body could be seen thru the soil.
Miracle was that after centuries, the cloth was still white and intact, and not disintegrated at all, and the body was also not decayed as could be seen by the shape of the body under the cloth.
These men were discovered in the nick of time, and I dont know what punishment they had to undergo if any.
But that is why Mecca and Medina are the only 2 Muslim cities non-accesible to Muslims.
And, Abdulmalick is joking I hope. It has nothing to do with any non-muslim being vile.
When I was a kid a hindu “aunty” INSISTEEEEEEEEEED to bring me to her temple, in my mind I was imagining the wOrSe and i also thought she was gunna convert me to her religion since that day, i thought her to be evil, n no i did not ever go into a temple always stayed out
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/biggrin.gif
[just in case]
once i saw a muslim driver stopping at a hindu temple and praying and brought 4 lemons
from the temple and put it under tyres
adn drove over it for good luck. i was shocked to see that then i realised any driver would need all the blesssing of
all religens to drive in that road.
What a waste of lemons.